Well that's not exactly true. I got my first cup of drive-thru coffee at Whataburger. My first real cup came at an IHOP one night after the late-late movie.

The four of us piled into the green Ford Contour after the movie got out. I can still feel those gray cloth seats. Man, how I loved the smell of that car. It was fresh, clean, and had the tiniest bit of perfume.

My pal, Kevin, and I rode in the back. Our friends, Nell and Pam, up front. If ever there was one thing I was good at when I was sixteen, it was making people laugh. And nothing made me feel better than making Nell laugh. It was my drug.

There are some crazy teacher statistics out there. Many say that nearly half of all teachers will leave the profession within five years.

It took me nine years before I decided to walk away from teaching. Teacher burnout is very real. It’s important to gird the loins of your mind and heart to make teaching sustainable. And yes, I used gird and loins in the same sentence. Deal.

I decided to make a short list of things that we all know but easily forget.

(4 for Friday posts contain four things that caught my attention this week and I feel are worthy of yours.)

Apps to Help Students With Dysgraphia and Writing Difficulties
This is a nice little list of apps to help students who struggle with the mechanics of writing. The simplest and most notable are dictation apps. My students used Dragon Dictation on their iPods last year since Siri and voice dictation were not available. It worked very well.

Pursuing Context

Thoughts on education, technology, and faith.

My name is Justin Stortz. I write about my experiences with teaching kids- the happy, the sad, the extraordinary, and the mundane. I’m passionate about writing, reading, and technology. I love how these things can make learning better.